What if: A Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Story
by Skynica Dryhern
Summary: I have always wondered  well, as long as I've played PMD 2 and 3  what would have happened if you hadn't lost your memory and hadn't turned into a Pokemon. It'll be a much shorter story, I can tell you that.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Miss Me, Miss Me, Now You Gotta Kiss Me!

Grovyle and I had been together since who-knows-when. Maybe a cousin or someone gave him to me. I don't really know. But we were each-other's buddies. We would constantly go into the nearby forest and play explorers. But we were lacking something.

That something would be a decent life.

Yeah, time was frozen. That's why we decided from an early age that we would do something about it. Aided by my special ability, the Dimensional Scream (how I discovered this power is another story), We ran away from home and began our research.

I looked down at Grovyle. He looked back at me and smiled. We had finally found the last location of the ancient Time Gears- a vital part in restoring time. Now, we were standing in front of the Portal of Time. Celebi was hovering near-by. Oh yeah- Celebi was helping us. We had to get to the past to save time, and Celebi was pretty much the only one who could help us.

"Ready buddy?" I asked.

"Gro-o," he said. Even though I couldn't understand his _exact _words, I knew what he meant- "_Let's go,_"

I breathed, clutched my bag closer to my chest, and jumped into the dimensional hole. I saw Grovyle jump in right after me. But something else caught my attention.

"No, no, no!" I shouted. "Grovyle! Move!"

The Shadow-Ball whizzed by, and Darkrai lost his chance at us. I heard his enraged cry, but it was far, far away.

Fightning the dizziness, I looked over at Grovyle. His eyes seemed to say "_Good save- That was too close though_,"

Grovyle was starting to drift farther away. I wondered if that would affect where we would end up after our trip.

The swirling dimensions started to tug at me, making me feel faint. "No wonder Pinkie said that she hated time-traveling," I mumbled to myself. I let my eyes drift shut.

I breathed in. I breathed out. And I knew no more.

But hey! Darkrai missed us- so that means we're safe!

**(But changing one small thing can have dastardly consequences… I realize that this chapter was really short, but I'm trying to get them longer. But seriously. Changing a 'minor' detail can really mess stuff up.)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

On the Beach at Dusk.

I groaned a little bit, shifted position, and opened my eyes. I sat up, shook the sand from my clothes, and looked around. I was on a small beach, and it was evening. The sun bounced off the waves in an absolutely beautiful way. I looked over to my right. There was a very small Mudkip at the end of the beach. It hadn't seemed to notice me yet, so I just stayed where I was.

It was only about a minute before it turned my way. It made a strange chirping noise, then walked slowly toward me. I gently held out my hand and let the Mudkip sniff it.

"Want some chocolate?" I asked quietly. I reached into my front pocket and pulled out a king-sized bar. I opened the package and broke off a piece. The Mudkip reached up with its tiny webbed paw and took it. He nibbled it at first, then finished it off quickly. He jumped up into my lap and reached up for more. I only broke off one more piece for him, then I put the package back in my pocket.

The Mudkip pawed at my pocket, then looked back up at me. It was then that I noticed something. He had a pretty little rock attached to a piece of string around his neck. It had a carved design on one side, making an intricate pattern. I gently touched the charm with my finger-nail, but then something caught my attention. I looked up and saw a Zubat and a Koffing coming towards us. I stood up, reached into my bag and pulled out my handy-dandy can of...

Repel- a very pungent Pokemon repelant. The Zubat and Koffing stopped with surprised expressions on their faces. "Don't get any closer," I whispered. I knew that they couldn't understand me, but maybe they could smell the residue on the outside of the can...

They both backed off, then skedaddled. I looked back down at the Mudkip. He was smiling- well, as much as a Mudkip can smile. I think that their jaws prevent them from smiling all the way.

That's when I noticed something. Grovyle was not on the beach. I remembered that he had kind of drifted away during the trip through time. I would have to find him later. No, not later. Soon.

Anyway, the Mudkip started to talk in his cute little voice. "Mudkip! Mud-kip kip!" and with that he grabbed the bottom of my pants and started tugging. I stood up and followed him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I honestly had no idea what this little Mudkip was thinking. He would run a few feet ahead, then run back to me, saying something in his little language. We walked through a neat little town. There were other Pokemon still roaming the streets, most of who looked at me suspiciously.

After the awkward walk through town, the Mudkip led me to a sharp bluff. He scurried under a bush and disappeared from sight. After a few seconds, he popped back out, barked something, and then dove back under. I assumed he wanted me to follow him, but how was I supposed to fit under there?

Regardless, I dropped onto my hands and knees and followed him. Much to my surprise, there was a set of stairs under there! I gratefully slid down into the room. It was far from small and it opened out to the sea.

"Neat little place you got here, Mudkip," I said. "But if I'm going to be staying here, there is one thing I need to do,"

I sat down on the floor, scooped up the Mudkip, and whispered in its ear hole one word. "Toby," I said. And so, from that day forward, the Mudkip was known as Toby.

Much later that night after we had made ourselves comfortable beds and the fire had burned to its final embers, I laid awake, looking out at the glittering ocean. I thought about Grovyle. Did he miss me? Was he worried about me?

I looked over at Toby. He was curled up in a tight ball- the only thing that gave him away was the obnoxious fin on the top of his head. I smiled a little bit as I rolled over.

"At least I have you," I said to myself. I just wished I could understand him better. I wondered, as I fell asleep, if he could understand me…

I woke up the next morning just before the sun rose. I started a small fire, then crawled up out of the bushes to sit on the edge of the bluff. As it started to get brighter, I turned and watched my first dawn. I was taken away by its beauty, and I cried.

"This is the reason we're doing this," I said to myself. "To protect beauty such as this- that is why we strive to succeed,"

I heard Toby start to stir beneath me, so I went and re-joined him.

"Morning, Toby," I said. He looked at me quizzically, but then returned to the blue gummi he had been eating. I sat down next to him and pulled an apple out of my bag. Every once in a while, I would reach down and scratch his fin. It had a weird, rubbery texture, but he obviously liked it. After I finished my apple, I stood and stretched. My hand hit the ceiling, but I didn't mind. I leaned to the left, then to the right, then I shook out my arms. Toby laughed in his own way at that.

"Well Toby, first thing's first," I said. I reached into my bag and pulled out a Wonder Map and my compass. "Do you know where we are?"

This question served two purposes, really. First was to find out where I was. The other (and more important) was to find out if Toby could understand me.

He hopped up into my lap, studied the map for several seconds, then pointed with his little paw. Well, I guess that means he does.

I marked the place he had indicated on the map, then stood up. I looked down at Toby, wondering if he would be strong enough to do a long journey such as to the Lime Stone Caverns. I looked at my map again.

"Crystal Crossing would be the closest," I said to myself. But I also knew that there was a Pokemon there, guarding what I needed. I wondered if Grovyle had a good start on me already or not.

"He probably does," I grumbled. I rolled up the map, stuck it in my bag, then headed up the stairs. I reached the top, crawled through the bushes, stood up, dusted my knees, then looked back at Toby. He looked rather sad and forlorn.

I kneeled down next to him and placed my hand on his head. "Wait for me, ok? Promise me?"

"Kip!"

I smiled, turned, and headed back down the road. Very few of the other Pokemon from the town were stirring yet, so I didn't have to deal with them. At the cross roads, I took my map out again. I had to decide between the Lime Stone Caverns and Crystal Crossing.

I headed north, towards Crystal Crossing.


	4. Chapter 4

**(Author's note: This story is getting much more popular then I would have ever thought possible. Thanks guys! And just as a side note, readers who have played/ read about Pokemon Mystery Dungeon may understand some things better than those who haven't.)**

Chapter 4

The journey to Crystal Crossing wasn't too bad. Very few Pokemon bothered me, and the ones who did found themselves with a face full of Max-Repel. Oh yes... The pepper spray for Pokemon...

Once I actually got there though, more and more Pokemon started to pop up. I didn't exactly have an endless supply, so most of the time I ended up using spurn orbs. Watching the stunned expressions on the Pokemon's faces as they were suddenly warped to a different part of the dungeon was pretty amusing, if you asked me.

Anyway, I finally made it to the Crystal Cavern room. I remembered being here in the future with Grovyle. It was only because of him that I was able to be here. That either of us could be here in this time. Three big crystals came up from the floor, each one a different color. They were Red, Purple, and Yellow. I carefully put my hand on the red one. It's color shifted to Orange. I tapped it again until and it went to Yellow. I kept tapping it until it was Blue- the color of the Guardian of this lake. Oh yeah, did I mention that there was a lake here?

I repeated the process with the other two crystals, then stepped back and watched the pathway to Crystal Crossing unearth from the ground. Clutching my bag a tad tighter, I continued.

After several floors of dungeon crawling, I finally made it to the actual lake. It was stunning. A mysterious blue-green light set the entire cavern a-glow with color- the light hit the crystals, and being prisms, they refracted the light into a million rainbows. I made my way to a narrow peninsula. Breathing deeply, I closed my eyes and called out for the Guardian of the lake.

"Azelf!" I cried. "Azelf, where are you?"

"I am here," Said his voice in my head. "Human, what do you wish?"

"Azelf, I need to tell you something that is of great importance," I said. "Please trust me,"

After a moment of silence, Azelf showed himself to me. He was smaller than I expected, but it didn't really matter. "Go ahead, human," he said. "Speak,"

"Azelf, I am from the future," I started. "I was aided by Celebi,"

"And you want me to send you back?"

"Far from it," I replied. I pointed out to the center of the lake, where the blue-green light was. "You guard the Time Gear here, so that means that you know its purpose, correct?"

"Of course," Azelf said. "It protects the flow of Time, correct?"

I shook my head. "That is just one use for it. Azelf, Dialga created the Time Gears as a fail-safe if time itself were to ever be disrupted,"

"Ok, so what is your point, Human?"

I sighed. "In the future, the planet is paralyzed. Time is stopped. My partner and I have come to this time to collect the Time Gears and to set them in Temporal Tower. I know it is hard to believe, but-"

"Oh, I believe you," Azelf said. "I may be the being of will-power, but that doesn't mean I can't sense your emotions. I know you aren't lying. Trust me, if I knew you were lying you'd be _lying _at the bottom of this lake,"

" Um, Thanks for understanding I said. Azelf had turned and headed out across the lake. He dove down, scooped up the Time Gear, and returned.

"It really kind of stinks that time stops, but you're sure that it will resume once the Time Gears are in Temporal Tower?"

"Of course!" I said. The ground started to shake a little bit. "That's our cue. Let's skedaddle!"

And thus, I came to possess the Time Gear from the Crystal Crossing Lake.

**(Author's note: Yes, I know it was a short chapter. I'll try and make the next few a bit longer to make up for it.)**


	5. Chapter 5 A Chapter About Grovyle

Chapter 5

Grovyle grabbed onto another vine and swung to the next branch as it began to drizzle a little bit. He slipped about an inch because of the wetness, but managed to reach the branch. He landed with barely a sound. He stretched his arms, then looked around. There were no other Pokemon in sight-

"I guess that's a good thing," He said to himself. He sat down and took a quick lunch break. But as he pulled an apple out of his bag, a small piece of paper fell out and fluttered to the ground. He hopped down and was able to catch it before it hit the ground. Hanging from the branch by one claw, he looked at the picture.

It was a picture of his partner and himself. They both had their thumbs stuck up, and they were both smiling. Strange though. They were in the future- you know, where everything was paralyzed and was boring and... and...

Grovyle shook his head and hopped back up to his lunch. Even though his partner was a human and he a Pokemon, that didn't stop them from being best friends.

Grovyle finished his apple, picked up his bag, and continued deeper into the forest. But about mid-way, the rain really began to pick up.

"I have to hurry," He said to himself. A moment after that, he slipped from his branch and fell. He clawed out for a vine or a branch- anything- but had no such luck.

He landed face flat in the mud with a splat. Grovyle kind of laid there for a moment, remembering the last time he had fallen into a mud puddle...

_ "Where are you? HELP!" he shouted. He floundered a bit before his partner arrived. "Finally! Where were you?"_

_ "Calm down, will you?" his partner said. "Um, here grab onto this stick," Grovyle was tossed a stick and was able to clamber out. He laid on the ground, panting._

_ "Geez, it was just a mud puddle. Not that hard to get out of, Grovyle,"_

_ Grovyle looked at his partner. "I guess you're right..."_

_ "Hey, buck up," Grovyle felt a gentle nudge from his partner. "I don't blame you. I mean, we were up _all _night,"_

_ "Tch. Yeah, running from Sableye. It's not a good excuse. C'mon, let's just go, ok?"_

_ "Well, first get cleaned off!"_

Grovyle did just that- he used his claws to scrape off as much mud as possible. He knew from experience that if he waited to get the mud off, it would be a big pain- literally.

He decided to play it safe and stay on the ground. As he ran, he wondered how his partner was doing. Once again, his partner had saved his life- this time it had been from Darkrai.

But here in this time, that was the least of his problems. Dialga- excuse me, Primal Dialga, had possibly- no, probably- sent someone or something to this time to hunt both of them down.

"I suppose 'divide and conquer' works pretty well for this," he mumbled. He knew that he was going the right direction once he saw it. He nearly tripped in another puddle, but it wasn't nearly as deep. He easily passed through it, and suddenly he was there.

"The Time Gear," He said to himself. He approached slowly. "At last, a Time Gear..."

He reached out for the Time Gear, and not wasting a moment, grabbed it. He was not surprised in the least when the entire forest got a little bit darker. He was also not surprised when the ground started to shake- a rather foreboding sign, don't you think?

"Time to get out of here, I think," He said to himself. He placed the time gear into the lame excuse of a bag that he had, then dashed off into the night. He didn't look back, but if he had, this is what he would have seen.

The rain hitting the leaves of the trees and bushes slowed to a stand-still. The Pokemon of the forest, fleeing for their lives, froze in mid-stride.

But Grovyle didn't look back. That wasn't his problem. His problem now was to find his friend and to find the other Time Gears.

**(Author's note) I realized something while writing this chapter- I never gave the main character a name- or even a gender, at that. I think that I will leave it that way though, for several reasons. The first is that I think that it gives the reader more of a chance to put themselves into the shoes of the hero, without having to go all Naruto-gender-change on us. Happy reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**(Author's note:: Bluhbluh bluh I'm so so SO sorry that I haven't updated any of my stories in- what, three? Four months? MORE? Being busy is a killer, ladies and gentlemen! Oh well- Here you have it: chapter 6.)**

Chapter 6

Just as I suspected, the return to town was awkward in the extreme.

"They're staring," Azelf whispered.

"You don't think I realized that?" I retorted. I sighed, then decided on my next course of action. "Azelf, you need to explain to everyone here what is happening,"

"I will do so!" he responded. He turned to the nearest Pokemon, a fretting Chatot, and started to explain what was going on. Well, I assumed that was what he was talking about, considering that's what I had asked and the fact that the Chatot calmed down considerably. He nodded, made his reply, and then flew off. I hoped that it was to spread the message.

Azelf turned to me and smiled. "Well, that went well. That Chatot happens to reside at an exploration guild that's just up the road. He is returning there to explain everything there,"

"That's great," was all I could say. I had no idea what an exploration guild was, but using context clues, I guessed that there were a considerable amount of Pokémon there.

While I was thinking this, Azelf was going around to the other Pokémon around the town and telling them the same thing. I decided that now would be the time to return to the bluff and check in on Toby.

I was slightly surprised to find the Mudkip not present. After stumbling around the bluff looking for him, I finally gave up. I was a little bit sad- true. For the relatively short amount of time I had known him I had grown rather attached. Oh well. He was a wild Pokémon after all.

I presently returned to the town and stood by Azelf as he continued explaining. A rather large amount of Pokémon had come in such a short amount of time. I assumed these Pokémon were from that 'guild' Azelf had spoken of earlier.

I felt a slight tug at my pants. I looked down and was surprised to find Toby standing there with a female Chikorita. Both had on cute little scarves with three triangles stitched into the corners. I figured Azelf would be here for a while, so I sat and pet both Toby and the Chikorita. I decided to call her 'Natalie'. She looked kind of like a Natalie, anyway.

Both Pokemon laid down on either side of me and listened to Azelf speak. I understood zilch of what was being said, but I didn't mind. I already knew the gist of it. Then again, I WAS the gist of it. I could tell by the way Azlef constantly pointed in my direction.

Now, the Pokemon gathered were a rather motley sort. Just about every type was represented there: There was literally everything from Arbok to Zangoose. Something that I did notice though was one particularly large cluster. It seemed to be led by the Chatot from before and a Wigglytuff. I resisted the urge to reach out and touch its fur- It looked so soft though!

Finally it seemed that Azelf had finished explaining. The Pokemon were dispersing to separate corners of the town, and the group accompanying the Wigglytuff and Chatot headed down the road. Toby and Natalie started to follow them, but I stopped them.

"Hey, where are you going?" I asked. I pointed back to the bluff. "Don't you live there?"

Toby shook his head and attempted to explain something. Natalie joined in as well, but it was no use- I had not the slightest idea what they were saying.

"What seems to be the problem?" Azelf asked suddenly from behind me. Without missing a beat I told him that I honestly was starting to get fed-up with not being able to understand anything going on around me.

"Why didn't you say so before?" He asked. "If you had told me I would have fixed that long, long ago!" and suddenly, every word being spoken around me became understandable.

"-Which really stinks, because I was really looking forward to it," Toby was saying.

"Wait, what stunk?" I asked.

"Me not getting to go with you to go exploring!" he said. "But anyway, it was a good thing that I did stay here because Nat arrived. If I hadn't been here, then she would have walked away from the guild like I had done so many times before. Anyway, as I was saying, we are now on our own team! Isn't that great?"

I didn't say anything right away. I was waiting for an awed expression to dawn on his face when he realized that I had understood him. It only a moment for that to happen. He started blubbering over his words, stumbling as he went along. Nat sighed and shook her head. "Oh dear Toby," she said. "Always stumbling over your words. Please excuse him," She said, looking to me. "As you can see, he is rather, um, startled by your sudden comprehension of our speech. Then again, as am I. I just happen to have a much more subtle way of showing it."

I only nodded. I crossed my arms and scanned the crowd. Do you know where I could spend the night?" I asked.

Nat chewed her lip for a moment, but then responded. "I believe you could spend the night at the Guild- as long as it is alright with the guild master," she said. "But if either the guild master or Chatot do not agree to let a human such as yourself into the guild, I am sure that it would be completely ok with the towns-people if you slept out at the bluff,"

I nodded, then asked who the guild master was. Both Toby and Nat pointed to the Wigglytuff. I was actually sort of surprised- I was not expecting a Wigglytuff to be a guild master. Oh well. Appearances are deceiving. I decided to go over immediately and ask her- or him. With some Pokémon, you just can't tell.

When I caught up, it immediately bounded up to me and grabbed my hand. "Hi friendly friend!" it shouted. Its voice betrayed its gender- male. "You are a tall human friendly friend! Come on! You are welcome to stay at my guild while you continue your search!"

"You are too kind," I said as he led the way back up the path. I looked behind me to see a contingency of other Pokémon following us- Toby and Nat among them. Azelf stayed behind, engaged in conversation with a Magnezone. "So, if and when you get the report of time stopping anywhere, I suggest you let the human know where so we can go find this 'lost partner'."

I smiled a little bit. It was nice to know everyone was so willing to help. I turned back around and followed Wigglytuff and his crew up the steps to his guild.

That evening, dinner was absolutely delicious- if I do say so myself. I helped a peppy little Chimecho get everything set up. I was even able to do a little bit of cooking- roasted apples and some warm broth. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it.

Much later, Chatot escorted me to a room close to the end of the hall. It was really more of a small cave than anything. "If it is perfectly fine with you," he said, ruffling his wings a little. "We are permitting you to stay here in this room until your mission is completed. Please keep it tidy," he squawked.

"Thank you, sir," I said. It felt odd, addressing a Pokémon as 'sir', but he just seemed like the type of sentient being who would prefer to have that title. But all I got was a slight nod before he soared back down the hallway.

I gathered a pile of straw into a bed-shape before I curled up. Luckily, it was fresh and sweet-smelling. +1 for the guild. Unfortunately, other than my own blanket there was nothing else to cover up with. Oh well. I was soon asleep anyway.


End file.
